Friday, June 14, 2013

LOTUS REGULATES TEMPERATURE LIKE ANIMALS

LOTUS CAN GENERATE HEAT ANDREGULATE ITS TEMPERATURE, STUDY

www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com - (New
Delhi): Among other intriguing properties, the sacred lotus has the
ability to generate heat and regulate its temperature like birds and
mammals. This has been revealed by a team of researchers from University
of Adelaide, who have unlocked the genetic secrets of one of the
world's most unique and culturally significant plants, the lotus.The
work focused on its incredible ability to generate heat so that it can
keep a constant temperature of around 32-34 degrees over a 2-3 day
period, while the environmental temperature varies by up to 30 degrees -
behaving like a warm-blooded animal. An international team has
published its research in Genome Biology.

The
scientific paper stated that the lotus has been cultivated as a food
crop for more than 7,000 years in Asia and is prominent in both Buddhism
and Hinduism. This sacred plant is noted for its long-lived seeds -
viable for over 1,000 years - and for its water repellency and
self-cleaning leaf surfaces. This 'lotus effect' is being adapted for
industrial uses.“The
sacred lotus has huge cultural, religious, economic and medicinal
importance and many unusual traits. It also has great scientific
significance,” says professor Jenny Watling, head of the School of Earth
and Environmental Sciences from University of Adelaide. “The heat
generated and the aromas released are particularly attractive to
pollinating insects,” added Watling.

An
international team has sequenced and described the sacred lotus genome.
The author of the article, Manash Pratim Gohain, explains that this
study sheds new light on the evolutionary position of the lotus, one of
the world's oldest flowering plants, and facilitates further research
into its unusual characteristics. “We've found the biochemical pathway
the lotus uses for this heat regulation. The plant can switch this
pathway on or off, depending on whether it needs more or less heat ...
so that it can keep a constant temperature - behaving like a
warm-blooded animal,” says professor Jenny Watling. In most of the
Hindus temples, the lotus flowers are used in decorations as a symbol of
purity and beauty.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

Hindus
have a special regard for the lotus flower, padma. Its one thousand
petals have been associated with the mental convolutions, the chakras,
finally culminating into Sahasrara, the highest stage of spiritual
evolution. The lotus, which arises from mud roots and blooms in beauty,
is a symbolic reminder of the emancipation of the mind from the low to
the high. ... Lotus is considered special. The lotus flower, with its
roots in the slush, rises up to bloom with beautiful petals. It occupies
a very special place in Hindu theology. The highest meditation point,
the Sahasrara chakra, is represented as the thousand-petal lotus flower.
The lotus is regarded as the symbol of truth, compassion, and beauty -
satyam, shivam, sunderam.